Federal health officials,
according to a Syracuse Herald Journal article, will be emphasizing protection
and education over pesticide spraying in their revised national West Nile
virus battle plan, due to be released this week. Dr. Lyle Petersen, deputy
director for science at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Division
of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases in Fort Collins, Colorado, acknowledged
that last summer's spraying strategy quickly became obsolete, and said,
"The primary aim is to prevent the problem before it becomes a problem."

The new guidelines
call for eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, spreading larvicide to
kill mosquitoes before they emerge as adults, and educating people about
how to avoid mosquitoes. Also, the two-mile radius recommendation has
been eliminated, with health officials finally realizing that attempting
to contain and eradicate the virus is futile.

"Late in the
season, it became obvious that one dead bird does not necessarily mean
there was a human risk," said Petersen.

Health officials say
that people over the age of 55, or those with suppressed immune systems
are most susceptible to the virus - the same population that is most likely
to be adversely affected by the pesticides sprayed. In most cases, healthy
people bitten by an infected mosquito will have mild flu-like symptoms
or no symptoms at all.